The party's congress on Saturday got top billing on the three main networks -- Channel One, Rossia and NTV. But even excluding those reports, United Russia officials were quoted more often than other politicians in prime-time news during the Sept. 15-22 survey.

Rossia even went so far as to identify Boris Gryzlov as both the interior minister and a United Russia leader when he was commenting on a recent explosion in Ingushetia and clearly speaking in his capacity as a police official.

"In promoting United Russia, any excuse that is not banned by law is being used," said Andrei Tsitovsky, a television analyst with the media magazine Sreda.

"When there is an opportunity to show government functionaries who are also United Russia leaders, they are being shown," he said.

All of the country's main networks are owned or indirectly controlled by the government, and since the Press Ministry ordered the country's last national private television channel, TVS, shut down in June, news coverage has shrunk down to a uniform promotion of the Kremlin's views.

United Russia is openly backed by the Kremlin in its race for seats in the next State Duma. President Vladimir Putin told the congress Saturday that he had voted for the party in the previous 1999 election, and he made it clear that he would like it to win on Dec. 7.

United Russia also seems to have found an unabashed fan in ballerina Anastasia Volochkova, whose lavish praise for the party made prime-time news on NTV. Volochkova said she supported the party's program and added that Duma Deputy Speaker Lyubov Sliska -- a United Russia leader -- was her ideal of a woman.

"Maybe it's her strength -- strength that is comparable to Catherine the Great, who with her strength, her wisdom, maybe partly with her cruelty, but with her power held together our Russian state," Volochkova said.

Sliska returned the compliment. When first meeting Volochkova, "I liked very much her approach, her ability to evaluate the situation," Sliska said.

Not only was the story aired twice -- on Thursday and then again on the day of the congress Saturday -- but officials from other parties were interviewed to comment on Volochkova's views of United Russia.

This was in sharp contrast to television coverage of a Communist congress earlier this month. Then, cameras zoomed in for an unflattering close-up of Communist leader Gennady Zyuganov's face and then switched to footage of overweight Communists arriving in Mercedes sedans and of elderly protesters.

Last Wednesday, Rossia aired a segment about how United Russia organized a Moscow River cruise for disabled orphans. Footage showed children holding balloons on a ship decorated with a huge "United Russia" banner.

In comparison, Rossia's selection of the main news involving the Communists last week included a court order for Zyuganov to apologize to the Pensioners' Party, which he accused of trying to pull votes from the Communists, and accusations from the mayor of a city in Kamchatka that the regional governor -- a Communist -- was focusing on his political career instead of ensuring that homes in the area got electricity and heating in winter.

"There is no doubt that the Communists, rightists and Yabloko will not be harshly cut off from the airwaves, but the context, subtext and hints will still be in favor of the 'party of power,'" said Anna Kachkayeva, a television analyst with Washington-funded Radio Liberty, referring to United Russia.

As next year's draft budget came up for a first reading in the Duma on Friday, the networks aired comments from politicians in many of the main parties, but most often from Zyuganov and Vladimir Zhirinovsky, leader of the ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party.

Tsitovsky explained this by saying the two politicians are recognizable staple personalities who are relied on to provide the "necessary balance" required by campaign coverage rules.

Zhirinovsky also made prime-time Rossia news by claiming many lawmakers were engaged in shadowy practices or linked to criminal groups. Then, other politicians were asked to comment.

"The priorities of all channels are completely obvious," Kachkayeva said. "It is clear that while the Communists and the rightists will appear in certain numbers, representatives of United Russia will be shown at horse races and soccer matches and in orphanages."

The coverage led 100 deputies to sign an appeal Monday challenging the constitutionality of election-time media rules. NTV was the only network that reported about the appeal.

See also:

the original at
www.themoscowtimes.com

State Duma Elections 2003

Freedom of Speech and Media Law in Russia

The Moscow Times, September 24, 2003